Oasis Discussions

It’s the first of its kind exam to be administered to Oral and Maxillofacial residents at the University of Toronto. We invited Dr. Marco Caminiti, Assistant Professor and Director of the Graduate Specialty Program in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University of Toronto to tell us about how the idea of the exam started and how the first round of examinations went.  Dr. Caminiti is also the Director of the Graduate Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Residency Program at Mount Sinai Hospital.  We would like to hear from you and know your thoughts and questions about this topic. If you ...

Mental illness indirectly affects all Canadians at some time through a family member, friend or colleague. By age 40, about 50% of the population will have or have had a mental illness. That’s us and our patients. Stigma or discrimination attached to mental illnesses present a serious barrier not only to diagnosis and treatment, but also to acceptance in the community. Here’s a quote from a recently published story in the Globe and Mail newspaper: “You should see the look on people’s faces when they hear that you have an illness with schizo in the title. People are repelled and ...

I had the pleasure to speak with Dr. Bob Schroth, co-chair (Canada-US Chapter) of the Alliance for a Cavity-Free Future (ACFF). Dr. Schroth spoke about the role of the alliance as well as its numerous advocacy initiatives. he also invoked the role of oral health research in the Alliance’s work and encouraged academics to apply for the ACFF oral health research grant.  Dr. Schroth is Associate Professor in the Department of Preventive Dental Science and the Department of Pediatrics & Child Health, both in the Colleges of Dentistry and Medicine at the University of Manitoba. We would like to hear from ...

I had the pleasure to speak with Dr. Chad Brummett, Associate Professor and Director of Clinical Research in the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Michigan. Dr. Brummett co-authored a recent article that looked at the risk of persistent opioid use following wisdom tooth extraction, a common dental procedure. The group of researchers were mostly interested in filled prescriptions by young adults and teens, and particularly opioid-naive patients, those who had not filled an opioid prescription before.  Dr. Brummett is also a member of the Michigan Opioid Prescribing Engagement Network, (Michigan OPEN), which aims to ensure appropriate acute pain care, while ...

Dr. Bob Wood, oral radiologist and forensic dentist at Princess Margaret Cancer Center, joins Dr. John O’Keefe in the second episode of a series of video presentations that help clinicians to systematically review and interpret their radiographs. Using real clinical cases, Dr. Wood points out the required steps to get to an accurate interpretation that leads to a precise diagnosis.  In this presentation, Dr. Wood speaks about models that delineate the benefits versus the risks of taking radiographs and how clinicians should manage the fears, anxieties, and myths that surround radiation and radiographs in dentistry.  We would like to hear ...

Dr. Waji Khan, dental surgeon from Kingston , Ontario, spoke with Dr. john O’Keefe about patients’ misconceptions surrounding dental treatment that lead to a lifetime of dental problems. Dentists are confronted daily with patients’ requests for quick and yet long-lasting fixes, not taking into consideration what really needs to be done for the treatment to yield positive outcomes.  Dr. Khan attended the University of Toronto Faculty of Dentistry and graduated with his Doctor of Dental Surgery in 2001. He served as a dental officer in the Canadian Forces between 1998 and 2007. Dr. Khan began practicing dentistry in Halifax, Nova ...

Research studies showing the negative impact of tobacco products on oral health care continue to deal with the ever-evolving tobacco landscape. The increasing use of wide-ranging tobacco products calls for more research into people’s exposure to harmful ingredients found in these products. That is the subject of a recent research study that was presented at the International Association of Dental Research conference held in July in London England. The study is titled: Nicotine and Carcinogen Exposure By Tobacco Product Type And Dual-Use. And, we have invited one of the authors of the study to tell us more about its findings. ...

Aiming to help alleviate the opioid crisis, a group of researchers set out to understand prescription patterns of opioid analgesics by dentists in Nova Scotia, Canada. I sat down with Dr. Kudirat Jimoh, corresponding author of this study. The group’s aim was to inform dentists and policy makers on the types and dosages of opioid analgesics being prescribed by dentists. The study may prompt dentists to reflect on and adjust their practice of opioid analgesic prescription in light of the current opioid analgesic epidemic.  Dr. Kudirat Jimoh is a periodontist in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  We would like to hear from you ...